Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

But now...

That won't work.

This is really troublesome.

After letting out a long sigh, Amuro Tooru looked at Sano and asked casually, "Speaking of which, about your illness... is it okay for you to be discharged from the hospital?"

Sano raised an eyebrow: "What's the problem?"

"...So you don't have any problems yourself, do you feel uncomfortable or unwell anywhere?"

Seemingly realizing that his previous words might have been somewhat ambiguous, Amuro Tooru elaborated further.

In fact, besides Sano himself, Amuro Tooru was also a little worried that the other party might endanger the safety of others.

But of course, it's not easy to say such things. For Sano right now, being treated as a special case by others might make him feel discriminated against.

"I don't feel well..."

Sano scratched his face, thought for a moment, and then his gaze fell on the cup of instant noodles in front of Amuro Tooru: "I felt pretty uncomfortable seeing you come over today to mooch off my instant noodles, does that count?"

Toru Amuro: "..."

Seriously, bro? You're this stingy even with a cup of instant noodles?

...Since he arrived right at mealtime, Amuro Tooru grabbed a bucket of Sano's instant noodles, but he didn't expect that Sano would even nitpick over that.

"I'll pay."

Amuro Tooru snapped up a thousand-yen bill.

Then I began to realize that worrying about Sano was a mistake.

After all, even during their chance encounter at Beika General Hospital, Sano seemed perfectly content and without any problems. Later, Amuro Tooru even received a... well, a complaint notice from the volunteer association.

as always.

...At the time, Amuro Tooru didn't feel anything special; on the contrary, he felt inexplicably nostalgic. But looking back now...

The more I think about it, the angrier I get.

Well, since there's no need to worry about the three issues anymore, let's just leave.

"By the way, your arm injury hasn't fully healed yet, has it? Don't go out too much lately, just stay home and rest."

Thinking about how Sano had twice walked on the edge of life and death to save people and solve the case during the Kazato Kyosuke incident, Amuro Tooru's mood improved a bit.

...Well, the reason I feel better isn't because I'm gloating at all; it's simply because I'm pleased with the other person's actions.

During his stay at Beika General Hospital, Sano solved quite a few cases.

From a doctor framing Kogoro Mouri and being exposed, to pinpointing a robber among tens of thousands of people at the arena, and even yesterday going to the Beika Hotel to solve a case involving a member of parliament.

As a detective, and a part-time one at that, Sano is undoubtedly very dedicated and has made significant and outstanding contributions to public safety.

Amuro Tooru is, after all, a member of the Public Security Bureau, and he has been paying special attention to Sano, so obtaining this little bit of information is naturally a piece of cake for him.

Just mentioning the case involving Representative Toru Amuro yesterday gave him a headache again.

You won't know until you see it, and once you do, you'll be shocked.

There are just too many elements involved in this case.

Putting everything else aside, the way the arrested murderer was seemingly silenced midway through his arrest is just too damn relatable.

Amuro Tooru can almost certainly say that it was Rye's doing.

...Looking at it this way, rather than saying that Sano is highly motivated to solve cases, it's more accurate to say that the crime rate is too high wherever he goes.

I know Sano has some bad luck, but isn't this a bit too much?

Oops, we've gone off-topic.

If the murderer who killed Senator Tunkou was silenced by Rye.

Was this also arranged by the organization?

And then there was the non-accidental explosion on the rooftop of the old Beika Hotel...

What exactly happened at Beihu Restaurant last night, and how many people were involved?

Filled with doubts, Amuro Tooru left the Sano family and continued to gather intelligence and clues.

……

"After you silenced Pisco yesterday, why did you return to the vicinity of the Beihu Hotel?"

On the night after sending Amuro Tooru off, Gin invited Sano to a mission in the suburbs.

During this time, Gin casually inquired about what happened last night.

...Could it be that Gin wants to pursue the matter of being teased by him?

"I wanted to say hello to Vermouth, but I didn't run into her."

As Sano looked at the desolate scenery before him, he muttered to himself and casually gave a perfunctory reply.

Gin nodded in response to Sano's answer.

The fact that Sano said that means he discovered Vermouth's true identity, most likely during the last billion gold mission. However, that guy probably wouldn't reveal his identity so easily.

All I can say is that he truly lives up to his reputation as Sano.

After a silent sigh, Gin pulled a pistol from his pocket and pointed it at Sano: "Sherry was at Beika Hotel yesterday, why didn't you notice?"

This guy... did his attitude have to change so quickly?

Sano glanced at the gun in Gin's hand and calmly replied, "Did Sherry appear at Beika Hotel? I don't know, I haven't found any trace of her."

“Pisco caught her himself and locked her in a wine cellar. Although Pisco was later taken away by the police because of you, I did see Shirley when I arrived there.”

Gin stared coldly at Sano: "Although it may seem a bit far-fetched to say this, I have reason to suspect that you deliberately concealed Sherry's presence after you discovered her, since even Pisco noticed it."

"...If that's the case, why don't you just ask Sherry if I have any problems?"

Sano chose to skip over some of the nonsense. The implication behind Gin's words was simply that he suspected Ai Haibara's successful escape was related to him.

This is of course none of Sano's business.

...At most, it's just... well, the level of not reporting something you know.

So even if Gin really went to ask Ai Haibara, there wouldn't be any problems.

Although it's impossible to get the information.

...However, upon hearing Gin's question, Sano realized why the other party had seemed hesitant to speak at the end of the phone call that day.

It turns out that I was already doubting myself back then.

Should Sano be smug about Gin's overestimation of himself?

After Sano said that, Gin immediately fell silent: "...She got away."

"Oh."

Seeing Gin's barely concealed...self-"shame," Sano couldn't help but let out a mocking chuckle, which made Gin even more silent.

"Hmph, it was that guy called Black Mask who rescued Sherry."

Gin composed himself and steered the conversation back to the main topic: "That guy is pretty skilled, but most importantly... he can dodge bullets."

"...No way, so you now suspect that I'm the Black Mask?"

After Sano realized the meaning behind Gin's words, he laughed in disbelief.

Gin, that guy, is definitely paranoid and has a penchant for persecution. He can even suspect himself.

Isn't that a bit too unfounded?

Gin himself was well aware that his statement sounded a little... well, a bit unreasonable.

Gin really suspected that Sano was Black Mask.

There's no particular reason, it's just a gut feeling.

However, to be honest, the way Gin had seen Sano dodge bullets before and the way Black Mask dodged his bullets last night gave people completely different, even opposite, feelings.

The former's movements were clean and efficient, like a still virgin, swift as a rabbit, and when it moved, it was as fast as lightning.

The latter's movements, like Sano's, were very skillful, but they gave off a sense of elegance and agility.

And if it were Sano, he shouldn't have been able to dodge those three bullets... but it's not impossible that Sano deliberately faked it.

After all, if Sano really is Black Mask, given his cautious nature, he would naturally make deliberate distinctions when impersonating another person. In terms of multiple identities, Sano is already a seasoned veteran.

Furthermore, there's the added benefit of disguise techniques.

Therefore, the possibility that Sano is Black Mask is not low.

...Despite this, the high-tech bulletproof vest worn by the black-masked man made Gin seriously suspect that there was a considerable force behind him, it was still the same.

Faced with Gin's tacit agreement, Sano first sighed, then gave up on arguing with an indifferent expression, as if he were a salted fish: "Then shoot."

Gin snorted and put his gun away: "You know I won't shoot."

That's right, Gin won't fire a gun.

Because Sano is a codename member of the organization, even Gin cannot kill him at will. Even if he suspects that Sano has something going on, he still needs to provide evidence.

The only difference is that the minimum level of this evidence will be much lower than the evidence required in the cases that Sano usually encounters.

But all Gin currently has is a tiny bit of skepticism based on intuition.

The reason Gin drew his gun and talked so much nonsense was simply to bluff Sano. If Sano's suspicions were true, it might shake his mind and cause him to expose himself.

...Of course, even though Sano didn't reveal anything, Gin still remained skeptical.

Caution is the key.

As a detective in the public eye, Sano should understand his current thoughts.

After all, while Sano isn't the prime suspect, he is the only... relatively clear suspect.

Aside from Sano, all that's left is the massive crowd of hundreds of millions in Tokyo.

It's obviously impossible for Gin to ignore such a close suspect who needs priority "interrogation" and instead engage in the foolish act of searching for a needle in a haystack.

Just as Gin thought, Sano naturally understood his actions.